Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $138.38 and last traded at $136.00, with a volume of 7176875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.